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King Kong the Stage Show

The
Scene was set in New York on the steel beam construction site, where there was
a hunt underway for a sexy blonde with all the right curves. I thought for a
minute there that I had actually been taken back to the 1930’s with all the
costumes right on par for that era.

Being the fashionista I am, I was sitting
there ogling off the outfits and sussing out the shoes. There was plenty of
glitz and glam and the costumes were amazing. One in particular was the greek
goddess style dress that Ann wore. It has strips of bling on it that were
beautiful, it is something I would have loved to have worn to my deb to be
honest with you :p

Image Credit: ROGER KIRKFrom
the beginning I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to be greeted by Kong.
But before I could meet the giant ape my eyes were greeted to a super cute
little monkey puppet named Ignatz. The movements that were made my Ignatz
puppeteers were so life like and so super adorable.

Image Credit: JEFF BUSBY

The
actual stage to me was made to look like the empire state building and really
did do the job throughout the show and was only brought to life at the end when
Kong climbs the tower and that’s when it really ties into the show.

Image Credit: JAMES MORGAN

The
50-strong Australian cast of actors, singers, dancers, circus performers and
puppeteers is led by Esther Hannaford (Hairspray) as Ann Darrow,
newcomer Adam Lyon as Carl Denham, Chris Ryan (Thyestes) as
Jack Driscoll, veteran stage actor Richard Piper as Captain Engelhorn
and the queen of musical theatre and cabaret, Queenie van de Zandt as
Cassandra.

The
singing by every single one of these actors is phenomenal I found myself at
times sitting there with my eyes close just to listen to the purity of their
voices. I would have loved to have bought a King Kong soundtrack.. but
unfortunately this is about the only thing you cannot buy from the show.

Based
on the novel of the original 1933 screenplay, the stage show of KING KONG is
a modern take on the classic tale of beauty and the beast. This timeless love
story hits the Melbourne stage as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the
original Merian C. Cooper King Kong movie.

Image Credit: JAMES MORGAN

Synopsis

King
Kong tells of a hollywood director, Carl denham, who takes his crew on a
perilous journey to the last uncharted place on earth, skull island, to capture
a huge prehistoric creature, the last of his kind – Kong. The love affair
between Denham’s star, Ann Darrow, and the ship’s first mate, Jack Driscoll,
unfolds against the burgeoning horror of Kong’s ultimate escape.

I
did get a little bit confused when the crew landed on Skull Island as there
were these non-human creatures dancing and chanting. It looked as if the leader
of this gang had blood stained hands.

Image Credit: JEFF BUSBY

Now
for the main star of this show.. KING KONG! This is what I had been waiting for
the entire show, meeting King Kong on that stage and seeing what this beast
really looked like; and boy oh boy was it worth the wait. It was actually on
Skull Island where Ann was hanging up on some ropes, Kong came in to smell her
out and I actually think she was made to be his next meal, but that didn’t end
up happening at all. At this point you did not get to see the real workings of
Kong as he was set in a shadow and you could only see his face. It wasn’t until
late on that you got to be blown away at just how lifelike this gorilla was and
his movements were so realistic. The one thing I could not believe was the
facial movement of King Kong, you really felt his pain when he was hurting. I
couldn’t believe how easily they made a 6 metre, 1.1 tonne ape moved around the
stage.Kong is entirely Melbourne-made. Here are a few facts on the super sized
Ape

•inside Kong there
are 300 metres of electrical cable, 1,500 connections and 16 microprocessors.
he has his own on-board hydraulic power with a liquid cooled quiet pump.

•the automation
structure (made and run by uK company stage technologies) holding Kong from the
gantry weighs approximately 22 tonnes.

•Alongside his
animatronic core, Kong has a team of puppeteers (King’s Men) involved in his
operation.

•the detail of Kong’s
facial expression is delivered by 15 industrial servo motors (same ones as used
in nAsA Mars rovers) all controlled in real time by the off-stage ‘voodoo’
puppet operators.

Image Credit: JAMES MORGAN

The
second half was a lot better then the first, and I think this is due to the
fact that you see King Kong a lot more. There was also a lot more lighting work
and special effects. The most effective thing they used would have been slow
motion. Especially at the end when Kong was being shot at, I was left holding
my breath hoping that Kong could just hang on and that Ann would not be hurt.
At the end of the show when Kong dies I actually had a tear brought to my eye
as you can feel the pain that Kong is going through.

It
was a standing ovation for me and I was left in ore after the show. Ticket
prices:

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Erin is a "Young Mummy blogger" who is starting to steer away from the "baby" scene and creating a space that gives insight to all of her favourite things. Everything relatable to Erin and her family can be found on this blog.